Tampa Homeowners Find A Closed Crawlspace Is The Answer To Mold!

Tampa Bay Homeowners May Find A Conditioned/Closed Crawl space Is The Answer To Their Warped Subfloors, Condensation and Mold Under Their Homes!!!

There has been a great debate on whether to have a vented/open or closed crawl space. Vented crawl spaces worked great until the invention of air conditioning. When a family keeps their home cool at around 72-75 degrees and the air outside is 85 degrees with 80% relative humidity is drawn into an open cool crawl space it can create condensation on support beams, floor joists, insulation and pipes. Ventilation will not solve this problem with humidity so high. The consistent high humidity and condensation causes wood rot, mold and attracts all types of insects and termites in Tampa.

Closing a crawl space is now the standard for a lot of homes and will probably be part of the building codes in the near future due to energy efficiency reasons and prevention of wood decay and mold growth. Closing/conditioning a crawl space in post construction situations usually involves sealing vents, installing a vapor barrier if there isn’t one and installing a high capacity dehumidifier such as a Santa Fe unit made by Therma-Stor to permanently keep the humidity around 40-50%.

Symptoms of a moisture laden crawl space could be a musty odor in the living area ,buckling wood floors or popping tiles. How the mold gets started is that the warm humid air coming into the crawlspace from the outside is cooled in the crawl space raising the humidity providing excessive moisture for mold growth. 70%+ Relative Humidity for 24 hours is all it takes to get the mold going. This can also cause high humidity and mold growth in the living area when A/C units may not be running in the cooler months of the year in Tampa.

Check out this Crawl Space Craziness in the picture to the below left from a previous Facebook post! Power venting is a great idea if there is dry air outside to pull through the crawl space but here in #Tampa it’s usually hot, humid air being pulled into a cool #crawlspace causing #condensation, #mold, wood decay and warped plywood subfloors. Conditioning the crawl space with a vapor barrier and a dehumidifier is a far superior, healthier and more cost effective way to handle these humidity issues!

For many years to save money contractors would have a vented/open crawl space so they wouldn’t have to spend money on closing it but in fact a vented/open crawl space may in the long run cost more money because of insect, wood decay and mold problems that occur later on. If you live in a house with a vented/open crawl space, you might want to seriously consider having it inspected for mold or wood decay.

Please visit www.tampabaymold.net or CALL (813) 358-4766 to have your home or business evaluated for mold or correct any ongoing mold issues.